What color?
Children's sermon
Object:
a ping-pong ball with half painted one color and the
other side left white
(Hold the ball so that one side of the children sees the
colored side and the other sees the white side. The children
might have to be split in half so that one side is opposite the
other.) Good morning. What is the color of this ball? (The
children on one side will say "black" [or whatever color you have
painted it and the other, of course, will say "white"].)
Why do some of you tell me it is one color and the other side tells me it's "white"? How can that be? Can you both be right? Of course you can. How? You might both be right if I have painted half the ball one color and left the other half white. And that is exactly what I have done.
We are quite tempted to divide people according to what makes us different. Some of us are female and some are male. Some have light skin and others darker skin. Some have red hair and others black hair. We are all different in one way or another.
Sometimes we let our differences make us feel better than others. Our reading today tells us that everybody who believes in Jesus is loved the same by God. There is nothing that makes one person better than another in God's eyes.
The ball may be white or it may be another color. The fact is, it is still a ping-pong ball. We may be female; we may be male. We may be A-students or we may be D-students. We may be good at throwing and catching a ball or we may be poor at doing that. No matter what -- God loves us each the same.
This is a lesson that many adults never learn. Jesus taught his followers to respect all people regardless of their differences. That is a hard lesson for some of us to learn, but it is an important one. Thank you for helping me tell about this important lesson again.
Why do some of you tell me it is one color and the other side tells me it's "white"? How can that be? Can you both be right? Of course you can. How? You might both be right if I have painted half the ball one color and left the other half white. And that is exactly what I have done.
We are quite tempted to divide people according to what makes us different. Some of us are female and some are male. Some have light skin and others darker skin. Some have red hair and others black hair. We are all different in one way or another.
Sometimes we let our differences make us feel better than others. Our reading today tells us that everybody who believes in Jesus is loved the same by God. There is nothing that makes one person better than another in God's eyes.
The ball may be white or it may be another color. The fact is, it is still a ping-pong ball. We may be female; we may be male. We may be A-students or we may be D-students. We may be good at throwing and catching a ball or we may be poor at doing that. No matter what -- God loves us each the same.
This is a lesson that many adults never learn. Jesus taught his followers to respect all people regardless of their differences. That is a hard lesson for some of us to learn, but it is an important one. Thank you for helping me tell about this important lesson again.
